A 2012 Missouri law which made it easier to sell stolen cars may soon be changing.
A loophole in the law allowed cars 10 years and older to be sold for scrap without a title. Lawmakers plan to introduce a new bill that will help find a solution.
Rep. Jeremy LaFaver (D-Kansas City) said, “I think the concern that was brought to me by folks in south Kansas City was that there were tow truck drivers taking advantage of the loophole in a new law that was created that allowed them to quickly dump cars that were older than 10 years by working with some salvage or some scrap dealers who were skirting the law as well.”
Jamie Vu believes a tow truck driver profited off of an early 90s Acura Integra stolen from his car lot. Vu said he only discovered the car listed on Craigslist a year after it was stolen.
When he confronted the seller, Vu said he was selling the car for parts. “They bought the car from the tow lot and they had a bill of sale and I said well, the bill of sale it doesn't do anything because we have the title and it's stolen.”
Vu took the car back but said he’s still in the process of finding out who was responsible for stealing and selling it.
“I just don't know how the tow lot got away with it because they didn't report it to the police department that they got that car in inventory,” said Vu.
There are about 4,000 cars stolen in Kansas City every year.
LaFaver said the bill they plan to introduce almost passed last year but an unrelated issue bogged everything down.
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